The Pool of Shadows
by OstentatiousNature
Summary: But this is my life, right? Nothing’s ever that simple." Persephone's sacred lake is being poisoned. Can Percy, Annabeth, and Nico cure it before they themselves are blamed? Mild Percabeth. Mostly like a side story, like the ones in Demigod Files.
1. Ch 1:Death Interrupts My Makeout Session

**The Pool of Shadows**

_Percy Jackson and the Olympians_

By: Natilie Sawada

My first PJO fanfic!!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned the characters, Nico would've been shipped with ME a long time ago. Copyright of the characters and everything go to Rick Riordan.

~~Takes place after the Last Olympian. Things have settled down, Percy and Annabeth are dating, but life for a half blood can never be that easy right? There are always monsters to fight, and Gods' arguments to occupy our young friends' time so Camp Half Blood still continues. When we catch up with Percy, school has just gotten out for the summer.~~

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Chapter I – **Death Interrupts My Makeout Session**

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In my dream I stood in darkness. It was cold and black and empty. I'd been here before.

The Underworld.

Now not many demigods can say they've been to the Underworld and made it back alive. I figure I'd had to have inherited some luck from my namesake, Perseus, who was one of the only heroes to have a happy ending, considering I'd gone there and made it back twice.

Some invisible force was pulling me forward, like a rope secured around my waist gently tugging me forward. I placed on foot in front of the other, feeling the invisible rope guide me through the darkness.

Step by step I felt my way through the darkness. When I'd visited Hades' kingdom before, I'd had no trouble seeing, but for some reason now, it was just black on all sides.

Then slowly as I walked forward, something emerged from the shadows.

A small lake. Around it small trees of all kinds bloomed with flowers and fruit and bright green leaves. Large patches of flowers were scattered here and there on the grassy bank; shocks of bright pink and yellow and lavender along the shore. On the glassy bright surface of the lake, swans swam gracefully through the water without making so much of a ripple. Farther back from the lake, past the small trees and brush alight with green leaves, huge towering willows and maples and oaks extended their branches, tall and strong, over the surface of the lake. All around it, they encircled it as though to defend it from the darkness pressing in on it from all sides.

How could someplace like this exist in the Underworld? This wasn't Isle of the Blest because that was the opposite of this; land surrounded by water, not water surrounded by land. And I didn't think I was Elysium because I couldn't see any of the sub divisions, smell anything barbecuing on grills, or laughter.

All I could hear was the small gurgle of a tiny stream running down off one bank into the lake, feeding it fresh clear water, and the almost inaudible rustle of the leaves on the trees.

Suddenly it felt as if the darkness on my back suddenly was stifling. I had to get to the lake, be free of the suffocating darkness, so I willed my legs to run towards the peaceful sanctuary. The tug of the invisible rope had disappeared, so I assumed this was where it had been leading me.

But as I reached the edge of the trees surrounding the little oasis in the darkness of the Underworld, the colors began fading, as if someone was tuning down the color in a computer monitor to grayscale. The leaves and flowers wilted. The swans paddled to the bank and limped up the slope of dying grass and lay down awkwardly. The color of the water turned from a clear aqua blue to a sickly dark acid green.

I reached out a hand desperately, now sprinting through the darkness towards the lake. But it was if the image of the lake and the trees were being sucked into a tunnel away from me into the darkness.

"No!" I shouted, but the tugging cord I'd felt earlier now tightened around my waist and yanked me backwards, pulling me away from the disappearing image. It was so dark! I tripped and fell, descending down, down into the darkness as the sight of the dying lake disappeared into the darkness above me…

"Percy!" My mom's call from the kitchen along with the sharp buzz of the doorbell woke me so suddenly I fell out of bed.

"Ow," I muttered, rubbing the back of my head, and then called "Yah, Mom?"

"Annabeth's here!" I jumped up from my bed, careful not to trip and fall on my face or something. Annabeth has been one of my best friends since I first learned I was a demigod…the summer I turned 13. But last year, we started dating. "Come on in, dear!" My mom yelled to Annabeth. She was probably in the middle of washing dishes. I ran past the kitchen and screeched to a halt in the front hall and saw Annabeth standing there in the doorway. She had her honey blonde hair swept away from her face in a pony tail. She wore her orange Camp Half Blood t-shirt and worn denim-shorts that showed off her long, long, long legs all the way down to her tattered Reeboks.

She looked me up and down, blushed, and then seemed to have a sudden fascination with my mother's blue drapes.

I closed my eyes and silently prayed I had pants on. I sneaked a quick look. Thank the Gods for jeans. And a shirt too. Bonus! I smoothed my hand over my hair, although that probably didn't do anything to help my hairdo. My hair always stuck up and out and sideways…pretty much anyways but down.

"Hey," I said, and flinched when my voice broke. Stupid puberty. Annabeth stifled a grin.

"Hey, yourself." She had that smug look on her face that said that she was thinking "What an idiot" to herself. I stood there awkwardly for a minute. I mean, we'd been dating since last summer but I was still really shy about it. I knew it was Annabeth, but she was just so…perfect all the time. Like she didn't even try. I was always disheveled and had no idea what I was doing.

Annabeth cleared her throat. I looked at her questioningly.

"Aren't you gonna give your girlfriend a hug hello?" She asked, holding out her arms. I bet Apollo's convertible wasn't as hot or red as my face. I strode forward and hugged her around the waist. The feeling of Annabeth's weight against me, her head rested on my shoulder, the smell of her hair…

"I missed you," I said softly, unable to resist the lift my hand to stroke her blonde hair.

"Yah," Annabeth replied and sighed contentedly. After a moment she looked up at me, and my ADHD noticed every little detail about her face: the freckles she'd gotten from being in the sun, the way her skin accented the honey color of her hair, the way her grey eyes looked like the sky above the sea, the perfect curve of her lips…

Our lips met and I wondered why I hadn't just rushed to her and kissed her the moment she walked through the door? Maybe Annabeth's right. Maybe my brain is full of seaweed. It certainly felt like it right now.

I bet you're expecting me to say "we stayed like that for minutes on end and time seemed to stop" and blah blah blah romantic gushy stuff. Of course, I'm not saying I didn't want it to…cough.

But this is my life, right?

Nothing's ever that simple.

I heard a loud sigh and someone clearing their throat. But it wasn't my mom. Or even my step dad Paul Blofis. I jumped almost two feet in the air, breaking apart from my kiss with Annabeth and wheeled around to find a shimmering Iris message floating in the middle of my living room.

The Iris message showed the slightly annoyed face of Nico DiAngelo, his arms crossed across his chest as he blew a stay piece of jet black hair away from his face.

Nico and I had been on horrible terms until the last year. Well if you mean by horrible terms, hating my guts and wanting me dead, then yah. But even though we'd become better friends, its not like we called each other everyday and got together and braided each other's hair or anything. We were pretty much on a "we're friends, but contact is mainly for business purposes only" relationship.

"Uhm…uh," was all I could mutter at first. I think my face was just going to be permanently stained red from all the blushing.

"Uhm, hi Nico," Annabeth said, and the slight tinge of pink colored her cheeks too. But it looked cute on her. I probably looked like a haggard marathon runner, what with my flyaway hair.

Nico sighed. "Well if you two are done smooching, I need some help."

"What is it?" Annabeth and I asked in unison.

"I'm at Central Park," Nico said, "And I—"

"Woah, woah, wait," I protested, holding up my hands, "You're in Manhattan? I thought you were spending time with your dad this summer." Nico sighed.

"Percy…I've spent more than enough time with my father this year." Nico paused, looking down anxiously at his feet and muttered, "No disrespect intended." He focused his eyes back on Annabeth and me. "Anyways I just got here. Train got in yesterday. But I got…um…caught up in Central Park."

"What do you mean?" Annabeth asked.

"Well, let's just say that you need to get down here or Central Park is gonna look a lot less green." I glanced over at Annabeth whose face mirrored my confused expression. "Look," Nico said sharply, running an aggravated hand through his hair, "just meet me in Central Park South in an half an hour. By the Grand Army Plaza." And with that, Nico waved his hand through the mist and the Iris message evaporated.

I looked over at Annabeth, eyes wide and confused.

"Oookay," I said. Annabeth hit my shoulder.

"Come on Seaweed Brain," she scolded, "grab your sword and whatever else you need."

"Do you have your sword and cap?" I asked her, already sprinting to my room to grab a backpack I always kept in the closet for situations like these. It was stocked with some cash, plastic baggies of ambrosia squares, a thermos of nectar, two changes of clothes, some granola bars and other things.

"Yah," Annabeth replied, leaning against the doorway to my room. Apparently she'd followed me. "I always come prepared." She held up a backpack of her own. I rolled my eyes.

"Of course you do."

Once I had all my things packed, Riptide in my pocket, and Annabeth at my side, I told my mother about Nico's Iris message. My mom dried her hands on a dishtowel nervously and sighed.

"Percy, you have to do what you think is right. Just try not to end up dead, all right? Annabeth, try to keep him out of trouble." Annabeth laughed.

"I do that on a daily basis."

"Hey!" I protested, but Annabeth grabbed my arm and hauled me away from the kitchen.

"C'mon Seaweed Brain," she scolded as she dragged me towards the door. "We've got a date with the prince of darkness."

**~End of Chapter I~**

**Reviews and ideas. I have the basic plot mapped out in my head, but I need detail suggestions. Also, how did you like it so far?**

**That would be wonderful! I'll try to update soon!  
**


	2. Ch 2: Central Park Gains a Wheat Field

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Chapter II – **Central Park Gains a Wheat Field**

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"There you guys are!" Nico puffed as he jogged up to us. He sounded out of breath. We were leaning against the stone archway leading into the Grand Army Plaza in Central Park South.

"We're right where you told us to be," Annabeth told him, her brow furrowed slightly.

"Yah, but I was on the other side of the plaza. I mean, this place is huge. I had no idea Central Park was this big."

"Well it _was_ designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux," Annabeth stated, rolling her eyes as if everybody should know this.

"Okay, Nico," I said, "What's the problem you needed our help with?" Nico sighed and fiddled with the collar of his calf length black coat absently. I wondered vaguely if he ever got hot, always dressing in black coats and things. But then again, being death's son, can you ever?

"Um," Nico paused, as if decided how to word something. "I think I should let her talk to you. She wouldn't tell me the entire story unless you two were there."

"Who's she?" Annabeth demanded, sounding slightly hostile. If there's one thing I've learned about Annabeth, it's that she hates not knowing things

"Hey," Nico said, holding his hands up defensively, "I was just told that I should get you two for her and then she'd tell all three of us what's going on." I sighed, realizing we weren't going to get anything more out of Nico until we followed him.

"Fine." I let out a huff of air. "Lead the way." Nico's dark eyes fixed on mine for a minute, and I couldn't decipher anything in their bottomless dark depths. I felt as if I were falling into the darkness from my dream again. I shook my head and trotted after Nico.

"Is she far?" I asked after a while. Nothing was unusual in the park. It was a sunny June day, and Central Park was filled with people. Nothing unusual unless you count the wood nymphs and forest spirits melting in and out of trees and things of that nature. But then again, normal is just a setting on a washing machine, so think what you want

"She's in the trees surrounding that huge meadow…uh…by West Drive." "Sheep Meadow?" I asked. "Yah, that one," Nico replied.

"Stupid New Yorker," Annabeth muttered. That made me smile. It felt good to know a little more than her about something sometimes. Even if it is only the name of some meadow in Central Park. After a little more walking we came up on a large meadow. Some families were picnicking on blankets spread on the grass. Kids were playing Frisbee. Couples were sunbathing together. You're typical Hollywood, perfect day in Central Park.

"Over there," Nico said, pointing to the thicket of trees encircling the large open space. "Right across from us. In those trees."

My ADHD had my mind wandering around, focusing on every little thing. Annabeth's hair in the sun, the brilliant green-ness of the grass, and how out of place Nico looked clad in black, black, and more black with his pale skin and sunken eyes.

"Annabeth called you the prince of darkness," I blurted out before I caught myself. Annabeth, who was walking a little in front of me, wheeled around and gave me her triple-deluxe "you idiot!" stare. Nico just blinked, surprised.

"Percy!" Annabeth exclaimed. "Whoops," I said sheepishly. I was really getting tired of all the blushing. "That's the ADHD talking."

"We _all_ have ADHD!" She cried, throwing her hands up in exasperation. "But when I get side tracked, I don't go around blurting "Percy drools when we make out sometimes!""

"Annabeth!" I exclaimed, "I do not!" Annabeth just rolled her eyes.

"Okay, that was more than I ever needed to know about you two," Nico murmured after a little cough. "So let's go, okay?"

"Sorry, Nico," I muttered as we started walking again.

"Yah, sorry I called you the prince of darkness," she said quietly. Ahead of us, Nico shrugged.

"Water in the Styx," he said, waving his hand passively. "Besides, I kind of like "Prince of Darkness for a title. Sounds cool."

"Well, then, lead the way, _your majesty_," Annabeth said sarcastically, gesturing across the meadow. Nico turned and started walking, looking extremely pleased with himself.

We wove through the labyrinth of picnic blankets, dogs (apparently leashes were optional), and giggling couples top the opposite side of the meadow. Although I really preferred this to the actual labyrinth.

Lots of sunshine, no attacking monsters, no walls moving around and trying to eat you.

It was great.

We reached the far end and continued on into the trees. Nico lead us farther and farther away from the sun and the people and eventually stopped in a deserted, silent section of forest.

"I've brought them, mi'lady," Nico called into the trees.

For a suspended moment, the forest around us was silent. Then, a figure emerged from the trees.

The woman's hair was the color of a golden wicker basket, braided over one shoulder with stalks of wheat woven in between the strands. Her dress was a dark, earthy green; like late august grass that cascaded down to her sandal clad feet in sold folds and was drawn around her waist with a belt of dried, braided corn husks. She smelled of a wheat field in the baking September sun.

"Lady Demeter," I said, realizing who she was, and where I'd seen her before.

"Greetings, Perseus Jackson," Demeter said formally. "Annabeth Chase." She inclined her head towards Annabeth. We both did little awkward half bows to the goddess of the harvest. She turned to Nico. "Thank you, young man. You're quite helpful. I don't know why my daughter has such distaste for you."

Nico frowned at her comment, as if the idea of being "helpful" was just about as appealing as fighting a Drakon.

"So…" I began, but as the goddess's piercing eyes focused on me all thought kind of just drained out of my head. A slight smile turned up the corner of her mouth.

"You're wondering why I summoned you here," Demeter stated.

"Yes, ma'am," Annabeth replied, nodding.

"Well there has been somewhat of a disturbance in the Underworld while my daughter has been away."

"What disturbance?" Nico asked. "I was just there last week, and nothing seemed to be wrong. Even my father—"

"Even your father," Demeter interrupted, cutting of Nico's sentence, "does not control ever square inch of the underworld, young one. There is a place that belongs to my daughter and my daughter only."

"Persephone?" I stated, just to make sure my family tree calculations were right. I'd gone on a quest for the goddess of spring two winters ago.

"Correct, Percy Jackson. Have you ever heard of her sacred lake?"

"Sacred lake?" I scanned through the myths I could remember. But then again my mythological knowledge was "startlingly lacking, for someone whose life depends on it. What does it take to make you do your homework, Percy?" as Annabeth put it. "No," I responded to Demeter's question.

"I remember!" Annabeth exclaimed. Of course she did. "In the underworld, Persephone has a small lake surrounded by trees and things with swans. It was kind of like a little piece of spring she was allowed to keep in the underworld."

Demeter's eyes glittered. "You are worth of your mother, child." Annabeth blushed.

"She has…a duck pond?" Nico asked. Demeter's eyes flashed with annoyance, as if she were starting to reconsider her earlier comment about Nico's "helpfulness".

"Well, not exactly. My daughter has a small piece of spring to keep with her during her dark months with that _husband of hers_." She spat the words out as if they were made of acid. "I mean no ill towards you father," she said, looking at Nico. "But there is a problem. While spending the spring and summer up in the world above, something has gone amiss."

"What's wrong?"

"It seems to be poisoned."

"Poisoned?" Annabeth's face was startled. "I thought no one could even get near to the lake without Persephone's permission!"

"Or so we thought," Demeter corrected. "But then again gods have trespassed on each other's sacred grounds before. Take your father Percy in Annabeth's mother's temple."

"No one is ever gonna let that go, are they?" I muttered. Demeter chuckled, a light airy sound like wind blowing through cornstalks.

"You assume it was another god who did this?" Annabeth asked.

"Yes. It would have to be someone very powerful to bypass the magic borders."

"Do you have any ideas who it could be?" I asked. I knew Persephone could be bitter sometimes, but who would want to ruin the only bit of spring in the underworld. Talk about kicking someone when they're down. Demeter shook her head.

"I have told no one of this, but I have been watching the other Olympians. Only Persephone and myself know of the tragedy."

"What will happen if her lake dies completely," Annabeth asked. Demeter's eyes darkened.

"It is not the source but a reflection of her powers. If it fades, it means she is. It is tied directly to her powers. Poison the lake, poison my daughter."

"Woah," Nico interrupted, holding up his hands in the universal "wait" gesture. "Hold the phone. Someone's trying to kill Persephone?"

Annabeth elbowed Nico in the ribs and hissed, "You can't kill a goddess, Nico."

"Well, poison, then?" Nico corrected, elbowing Annabeth back. She shot him a look I was all too familiar with and then exhaled loudly before fixing her eyes back on Demeter.

"Exactly," the goddess of the harvest replied.

"Why would someone wanna hurt her?" I said, "Okay, I can admit she's a jerk sometimes, but still…she's better than my first step-parent." I leaned over to Nico and whispered, "Trust me. You've got it made." Nico just rolled his dark eyes.

Demeter quietly cleared her throat and I muttered: "Oops," and stared at my feet.

"So, my dear children," the goddess said, "I need your help."

"Our help?" Annabeth asked, astounded. "Why…what…?" She stuttered to a halt.

"Why else would I call you out her, my dear? Although it did give me a chance to visit Central Park. I haven't been here in ages." I wondered vaguely if ages _really_ meant ages to her. "Look at the poor useless field," she gestured behind us to the meadow from which we'd come. I could barely make out the sunlight streaming onto the open grass. "Not growing anything productive, poor thing."

Before my eyes, the goddess waved her arm in an arc towards the field, and in a burst of shimmering light, Sheep's Meadow, as I saw through the trees, had been converted to a small, but still field of gently swaying wheat.

"Much better," Demeter said, smiling to herself. The three of us gawked at her. "Now where was I. Oh yes, I need your help."

"Why?" Nico asked. "Why don't you just go figure out what's going on?"

"Oh, I cannot enter the Underworld without Hades' permission," Demeter explained, a bit of annoyance in her voice. "And I do not wish Hades to find out about this little mishap as of now."

"Why not?" Nico demanded, stepping forward two steps towards the goddess. "Why shouldn't my father know what's going on in his realm?"

"Silence, boy," Demeter commanded, and for a second I thought Nico was going to turn into a pile of your Goth variety ash, but after a fearful second of the trees becoming darker and seeming to close in around us, Demeter's expression cleared back to a passive calm. "Do no question me, son of Hades. You will learn that when you need it."

"But—" Nico started, but Demeter raised her hand, and he fell silent. "Yes, ma'am."

"Lady Demeter," Annabeth asked in her formal voice, the one she only used when addressing gods, goddesses, or people of that such rank. The goddess turned to look at her. "Since it is summer, and Persephone is here in the world above, why isn't she telling us this herself?" Demeter regarded Annabeth for a moment and felt a strong urge to drive in front of her, bodyguard style for a minute but then Demeter spoke.

"She is feeling very weak," Demeter explained, "she asked me to come for her." Before Annabeth could respond, she turned back to Nico. "I trust you can get them to the Underworld safely?" Nico nodded slightly. "You father sometimes brags about your shadow travel." Demeter rolled his eyes, but Nico's entire expression lit up like I didn't think a kid of the god of death's was supposed to.

"Y-yes, mi'lady."

"Good, then I bid you farewell, young demigods. Help my daughter. May the Gods be with you." And with that, the goddess of the harvest allowed us a split second to avert our eyes before disappearing in a flash of blinding light, leaving me, Annabeth, and Nico standing in the middle of the woods.

"Well, that wasn't weird in any way," Annabeth huffed.

"The world was supposed to be saved already," Nico complained.

"C'mon guys, we're half bloods. Its non stop fun, twenty four seven!" Annabeth just rolled her eyes at me.

Two girls, friends, I'd guess, in their mid twenties walked by the edge of the woods and I heard them say something about how wonderful Central Park was helping out with the new urban farming project by planting a wheat field in Sheep's Meadow to help feed the homeless.

Ah, mist.

"So we're shadow traveling," I asked. Nico sighed.

"Yah, I've gotten better at it. I can bring someone with me now." His eyes looked back and forth between Annabeth and me, "Although, bringing two people is going to be a challenge."

"Sorry I'm not the prince of darkness, Nico," Annabeth said sarcastically. Nico quirked a smile.

"It's all right Annabeth. No one's perfect." Annabeth rolled her eyes for the millionth time today. You'd think she'd get migraines or something. "Now both of you, grab onto my arm, and we'll be off in a second. Just be ready to, like, catch me or something if I fall over from exhaustion when we get there."

"No problem," Annabeth assured, "I do it all the time." She looked over at me and smirked. I just stuck my tongue out at her and then walked over to the opposite side of Nico.

"We're off to see the wizard," I sang with mock enthusiasm under my breath as I grabbed hold of Nico's arm. "The wonderful wizard of—"

And I was thrust into darkness.

**~End of Chapter II~**

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